THE REACTIVITY SERIES

Some metals are very unreactive. This means they do not easily take part in
chemical reactions. For example, platinum does not react with oxygen in the air,
even if it is heated in a Bunsen burner flame.
Some metals are very reactive. They easily take part in chemical reactions to make
new substances.
Other metals may be more reactive than magnesium, or in between magnesium and
platinum. If we put the metals in order of their reactivity, from the most reactive down
to the least reactive, we get a list called the reactivity series.

If you want to learn the reactivity series, you could try making up a mnemonic or silly
sentence to help. Here's one:
"Pond slime can make a zoo interesting - the long crinkly sort goes purple."
Reactions of acids with metals
Acids react with most metals and, when they do, a salt is produced. But unlike the
reaction between acids and bases, we do not get water. Instead we get hydrogen
gas.
This is the general word equation for the reaction:
metal + acid → salt + hydrogen
For example, magnesium reacts with hydrochloric acid to produce magnesium
chloride:
magnesium + hydrochloric acid → magnesium chloride + hydrogen
Mg + 2HCl → MgCl2 + H2
It doesn't matter which metal or which acid is used, if there is a reaction we always
get hydrogen gas as well as the salt. However, how quickly the reaction goes
depends on the metal used and how high up in the reactivity series it is.

The reaction of a metal with acids gets faster the more reactive it is
The lab test for hydrogen
There is a simple laboratory test to see if a gas is hydrogen. A burning wooden splint
goes pop if it is put into a test tube of hydrogen. This is because the flame ignites the
hydrogen, which burns explosively to make a loud sound.

Displacement reactions
Displacement reactions involve a metal and a compound of a different metal. In a
displacement reaction:
 a more reactive metal will displace a less reactive metal from its compounds
Displacement reactions are easily seen when a salt of the less reactive metal is in
the solution. During the reaction:
 the more reactive metal gradually disappears as it forms a solution
 the less reactive metal coats the surface of the more reactive metal
For example, magnesium is more reactive than copper. When a piece of magnesium
is dipped into blue copper sulfate solution:
 the blue colour fades as colourless magnesium sulfate solution forms
 brown copper coats the surface of the magnesium

Here are the equations for the reaction:

magnesium + copper sulfate → magnesium sulfate + copper
Mg + CuSO4 → MgSO4 + Cu
No reaction is seen if you do things the other way round – in other words, if you put
copper powder into magnesium sulfate solution. This is because copper is not
reactive enough to displace magnesium from magnesium sulfate.
Investigating displacement
You can investigate the reactivity of metals using displacement reactions. The table
shows the results from a series of experiments involving four metals and solutions of
their salts. A tick shows where there is a visible reaction and a cross shows where
there is no visible reaction.

Magnesium Zinc Iron Copper

Magnesium sulfate ✘ ✘ ✘ ✘

Zinc sulfate ✔ ✘ ✘ ✘

Iron sulfate ✔ ✔ ✘ ✘

Copper sulfate ✔ ✔ ✔ ✘

Reactions seen 3 2 1 0

Magnesium displaces three metals, zinc displaces two metals, iron displaces one
metal and copper does not displace any of the other three metals. So, the order of
reactivity, starting with the most reactive first, is:
 magnesium
 zinc
 iron
 copper
Displacement reactions can also involve metal oxides.
Obtaining metals from metal oxides
Carbon is a non-metal but it is more reactive than some metals. This means that
some metals can be extracted from their metal oxides using carbon.
Less reactive metals than carbon can be extracted from their oxides by heating with
carbon. In general:
metal oxide + carbon → metal + carbon dioxide
This works for zinc, iron, tin, lead and copper. Copper is the least reactive of these
five metals.
Carbon fits between aluminium and zinc in the reactivity series

Extracting copper from copper oxide

Copper is so unreactive, it does not react with cold or hot water, so it is used for
water pipes
To extract copper, you mix copper oxide powder with carbon powder. You then heat
the mixture strongly for a few minutes in a crucible. It is important to keep a lid on the
crucible, otherwise the carbon will react with oxygen in the air, rather than with the
copper oxide. The carbon dioxide formed in the reaction escapes into the air.
After letting the crucible cool down, you tip the mixture into cold water. Pieces of
brown copper sink to the bottom, leaving unreacted powder suspended in the water.
These equations represent the reaction:
copper oxide + carbon → copper + carbon dioxide
2CuO + C → 2Cu + CO2

Extracting iron from iron oxide

Iron is less reactive than carbon, so it can be extracted from iron oxide using carbon.
This is done on an industrial scale in a huge container called a blast furnace.
Lumps of iron oxide are mixed with carbon and dropped into the top of the blast
furnace. Hot air is blasted in at the bottom. The oxygen in the air reacts with the
carbon, forming carbon monoxide:
carbon + oxygen → carbon monoxide
2C +O2 → 2CO
It is hot enough in the blast furnace for the carbon monoxide to react with the iron
oxide:
iron oxide + carbon monoxide → iron + carbon dioxide
Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2